I look at the roadside and see good grazing, at a fallen tree and see a jump. My phone autodials the farrier and my Mini hauls feed, so naturally my blog is about horses.

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Are we having fun yet?

We were gathered at the Washington Horse Park to demonstrate how much fun you can have riding your Akhal-Teke for the camera of Jon May, the mastermind of the Horseflicks video series.

Except I was not really having fun.

I was hot.

I was flustered.

I was not properly attired.

When I got on an hour and a half before, there was no precise shooting plan. Now, after an hour and a half of energetic riding to keep Danny occupied, it seemed we were all wrong for the dressage “class” that Jon had conceived as the other riders assembled in the One West arena set aside for our shooting. Angela Davenport was riding Ari, Katrina Quantrell was riding Mazie, and Sophie was riding Danny’s dam, Diva (Meshhurlyk). They were all dressed in show attire with dressage saddles. And there we were in our jump saddle and a bright turquoise shirt — misfits.

Diva, Maizie and Ari all dressed up – photo C. Balogh

But Danny has lovely dressage gaits. He BELONGED in that class. I had failed him.

And not just in that moment, but in my whole approach to riding was exposed as a failure. Although I had brought my Wintec dressage saddle along, I don’t own show clothes, as I have not done anything more than a schooling show for many, many years. Even though we did have Alice to help us, she couldn’t suddenly turn me into a Dressage Queen with the flick of a wand.

She tried, offering me a wool coat that was not only a few sizes too big, it was so stiflingly hot that after trying it on for a few seconds I tore it from my body. I chose a bottle of water and a chill pill instead.

As the water restored my balance, my film production brain took over again. This was not “Danny: the Movie,” after all. He was only one of the ten Akhal-Tekes who were able to attend this segment of the filming. There would be other much more advanced horses performing dressage at both the Kentucky Horse Park and at the Akhal-Teke Association of America Convention, the two other shooting locations. So from the hours of footage Jon May was shooting, only a few minutes would make it to screen, and no-one would be focusing on the individual horses. It was variety that counted.

Must have a group shot! – photo C. Balogh

The real value of the Washington Horse Park, and our participation, was the opportunity to shoot endurance riding footage that had a Western ambiance. Although it was only 9 a.m., it was heading towards 90 rather quickly. There was some inviting shade where Erin Heatherstone and Kuwwat were watching the proceedings. Kuwwat wasn’t dressed for dressage either — Erin focuses on endurance. That’s what she imported Kuwwat for (all the way from Estonia) and happily he is well suited to the sport. He has also produced a few foals for her, but he appeared to be able to distinguish between mares that belong to him and ones that don’t, and was very calm in his demeanor.

Kuwwat is one good-looking Dude – photo M. Bretherton

Erin calls him “dude” a lot. Seems to fit, though he is able to maintain his “dudeitude” in part because Erin monitors his surroundings carefully. That’s part of riding a stallion – you can never just tune out.

After dressage, there was a call for the riders with Turkmen costumes. Shannon has put together a wonderfully detailed outfit for Tommy (Asil Tumay) all hand-crafted by herself. She is hoping to make a splash in the costume classes at the shows she is taking him to regularly now- “native costume” should not just mean Arabian, she pointed out, as there is someone who rides his appaloosa in full Nez Perce regalia as well.

Then we did some shots with all the horses (except Octapelle – Shannon could only ride one at a time – at the moment, anyway).

“I felt really plain standing next to Shannon in the lineup,” Cathy said. But she said it with a smile. She was sitting on Astrachan, brought out of retirement once more for his fifteen minutes of fame – magnified by the fact that he was the sire of more than half the horses in the arena, including the flashily attired Tommy. In his early twenties now, with his competition record and many offspring, Khano has made his mark already. Cathy could look around and see the product of her lengthy investment in the breed, producing not only the horses, but connecting them to many of the riders in the arena.

Andy and Danny buddy up nicely – perhaps because they are both Sons of Khan – photo Cindy Balogh

Khan also appeared in the first HorseFlicks piece about the Akhal-Teke, an episode of the Rare Breeds series that is still the most popular of their shows, Jon says. It features the history of the breed, as well as horses in action at the Rare Breeds show at the Kentucky Horse Park. With many more Akhal-Tekes active in North America, the Board of the Akhal-Teke Association of America felt it was time to promote the breed not just from a preservation standpoint, but as the wonderful sport partners they are, whether it is on the trail, competing in the classic sporthorse disciplines or even showing Western Pleasure.

It’s hard to say whether Shannon’s Western Pleasure outfit outblings her traditional costume. I could admire the costumes without wanting to wear them – particularly the more authentic parts – Erin told me that her skeepskin Telpek is rather stinky – not made for the PNW climate! I love the fabrics and the jewelry, but for actual riding I vote for synthetic quick-dry fabrics – apparently you can even get show coats made of them now. Hmm. Or maybe a modern sporty version of the Turkmen look. By the time the next film is made, I’ll be ready.

Danny was getting rather restless standing around. He wanted be with the other horses, and we needed a distraction. I spotted some puddles from the night’s thunderstorms. Danny examined the cloudy water closely and then marched in. He stopped, waiting for his praise.

With that simple action, my mood changed from resigned to charged. Because in the plan for later was the water obstacle from the cross country course. We were not going to be jumping at the Horse Park because of insurance limitations, but we could use the shallow gravel-bottomed water for portraying “endurance” skills as well as eventing. Water is cinematic – not only does it bounce light, but it splashes and accentuates action. I had wondered how enthusiastic Danny would be about our plans.

His relationship with water has been very slow to develop. We have invested a lot of time in puddlesplashing, and he has crossed streams on rides, mostly following other horses. He had even waded in the Skykomish a little bit this spring, a big change from when he flinched at even the sight of the river. Still, he was not a confirmed waterbaby by any means.

Now, though, not only was he walking through the puddle, he seemed to be enjoying it.

On the endurance trail

We had scouted some spots the day before that would allow for easy shooting, including the water obstacle, which could work for endurance as well as eventing. First we had some snaking though the open Ponderosa forest to do.

Ari gives Angela her first “endurance” ride – photo C. Leddy

For the experienced endurance horses, the stop and start nature of filmmaking was perplexing at first. The footing was good and they wanted to keep going and eat up the trail!

Wouldn’t it be great to have a gang of Tekes at a real endurance ride! – photo C. Leddy

Even Andymn, who’s never done endurance, nor even much trail work, put his heart into the hill for his rider Dani Scott.

When it came time to do the trail obstacles, though, most of the horses happily switched gears.

Wendy and Allie lead the way up the log obstacle on the hill – photo C. Leddy

Wendy Connell was there with Allie (Alpowa). She has many endurance miles as well as back-country experience, and moved very handily up and down the steep scramble, giving Danny the confidence to do it too. Kuwwat played “king of the mountain” on the log platform very convincingly.

Now it was time for the water. Danny led the group in without hesitation. The puddle had been a good indicator! The other horses followed and we all played in the water while we waited for Jon and his camera. This was the first time for Katrina Quantrell and Andy’s full sister, Mazyly. Well, the second time really, as they had given it a try that morning. Katrina’s husband Jeremy had walked in with them to give Mazyly the confidence, sacrificing his boots for the cause. You’d never know how new it was from the way they were cantering through!

The shallow approach and the firm bottom made this a great place to take our shot at some speed through the water as well. It also made me think that eventing might be within Danny’s reach after all…

So we got done with our action filming before the worst heat of the day. There was plenty of time for socializing, some interviews and the potluck dinner. Cathy, who had spent the week worrying about everything that might go wrong, could now relax a little. Keiko and Kay, who had come up halfway through with a fresh supply of hay, brought some fresh energy, and Keiko had even brought her riding gear.

Truth behind the fiction

The next morning, Keiko saddled up Andy. The mission was to get Andy into his sweet spot after having been a bit nervous and jiggy the day before. He started out worried, especially as the trail wound close to Interstate 90. We put Danny between him and the noise on the wide path, and that helped. We didn’t go fast, just a number 3 trot, and swapped the lead back and forth.

The trail turned away from the road, and the traffic noise gradually faded to a murmur. The footing was easy. The horses were happy. And I let out a big sigh.

Through the Ponderosa and Hemlock, you could see across the valley to the ridge. We didn’t have the trails entirely to ourselves – a herd of deer were enjoying the good grass as well.

Danny behaved admirably in his role as support horse. I even noticed him checked in on Andy, much as Galen had checked in on him in the early days of his trail career. Andy was quite happy now, head down and steady in his gaits.

I smiled as I realized that we now actually had exactly that feeling that we had worked to portray the day before: the joy of partnership, shared purpose, and a smooth ride that make the breed such a joy.

But you’ll have to take my word for it. There were no cameras, not even my iphone!

Katrina on Mazyly and Jeremy riding Andymn – photo C. Balogh

But if you haven’t got enough pictures (and who can ever see enough Tekes?), there are more on my Triangle Ranch Facebook Page. Thank you so much to Cindy and Cathy for keeping my camera exercised while I was busy riding! Also some very nice shots from a photographer who I didn’t get to meet – I’ll add the link when I can find it.

Note: This is a seattlepi.com reader blog. It is not written or edited by the P-I. The authors are solely responsible for content. E-mail us at newmedia@seattlepi.com if you consider a post inappropriate..